Thursday, October 22, 2009

Spiraling around the old oak tree are more than a ton of pressure-treated lumber, some 500 lag screws and nuts, 1,000 feet of jute rope, and 48 feet of rebar.Atop it all, about 50 feet in the air amid large, golden leaves, sits a copper squirrel fixed on a patina-covered weathervane.The elaborately designed, four-platform treehouse cost Michael Chapman about $12,000 and just about every waking hour of the past three months. It was a work of love, a childhood dream come true, he said.Now, after a city inspection and complaints from neighbors - his lair in the sky must come down.If he doesn’t, the city could fine him up to $300 a day..

The coconuts are coming, 500 of them, stamped and addressed to your office on L'Enfant Plaza in Washington, D.C.The bulky brown seeds are serving as postcards, bearing about $4 worth of postage, paid for by post office fans from Lantana and nearby communities, who use the small post office on Ocean Avenue just off Federal Highway.On the back are polite messages written in marker pens, entreating Potter to reconsider the proposed closing of the Lantana post office, one of three Palm Beach County branches on the chopping block for the fiscally challenged U.S. Postal Service.Around the nation, 371 stations are being considered for closing, although postal officials have said the final number closed could be around 200.Besides coconuts, residents have collected more than 5,300 signatures on petitions and filled out public-comment forms left in the post office, which must be returned (no postage required) to the regional postmaster by Oct. 25. About 102 comment forms had been received by this afternoon.The coconut mailing is no mere goofy publicity stunt. It is a historically based publicity stunt..

The folks at Maytag Appliances know "they just don't make ‘em like they used to."Maytag heard about a 52-year-old washer and dryer set in Sand Springs that still washes and dries like new. They've traded the owner for a brand new washer and dryer, and the old ones are headed to the Maytag museum in Michigan."She'd put a bucket in front of the door so the dryer would still go," said Torchy Wolfe.Torchy Wolfe is talking about her mother's 52-year-old washer and dryer. Everything was working fine except the door latch on the dryer was broken. She called Maytag to get it repaired."So when I called, they said, ‘Are you kiddin' me?'" Torchy said.They couldn't believe a 52-year-old washer dryer was still working.Torchy bought the laundry set in 1957 for her mom for Mother's day. She says they've never had a problem with either one except for that dryer door latch.Not only is it still working - it's pink. Could it be the only pink set still in working condition? Possibly.Maytag offered to exchange the old set for a brand new one, and they sent Rob Longert to Sand Springs to coordinate the exchange.It was not an easy negotiation. Jane Thompson took about three weeks to make up her mind. After all, she's had them all this time, and they still work."I don't think anything will clean like they would," Thompson said.Never-the-less, the new Centennial edition washer and dryer are installed, and the old ones are on the way out the door and onto a truck.The pink washer and dryer will soon be on display at the Maytag Museum in Benton Harbor, Michigan- a testament to durability and dependability.Mrs. Thompson said good-bye to her old friends, but she has already told Maytag if the new washer and dryer don't work as well as her old set - she wants her old pink washer and dryer back..VIDEO